Daily Archives: September 24, 2011

Aside from Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger was easily one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes of season five. Aside from being totally unorthodox in the way it was structured, it was almost like a buddy comedy. I felt that it was one of the better episodes solely based on the face that it showed The Doctor totally at odds with how to act in modern society; it truly brought out his alien nature. Simple mistakes like paying rent with a huge bag of cash may seem like a good idea to The Doctor, but would raise more than a few eyebrows. When it was officially announced that Craig (played by James Corden of Gavin & Stacy fame) would be returning as a “fill-in” companion this year, I was pretty stoked. Not only would a character I liked return, but it was revealed to be a Cybermen episode. And not a Russell T. Davies era “stomping around saying catchphrases Cybermen” episode, but a proper one, complete with Cybermats!

While there are some emotionless metal guys running around, the majority of the episode is centered on The Doctor and his one last attempt at saving the world. It seems that despite knowing that he will die in mere hours, he stops by Craig’s old haunt on some sort of a “farewell tour”. There is an ulterior motive of course, in that he has found some kind of power fluctuations in the area, so the Doctor uses this as an excuse to investigate a bit. What we see is a man on his last legs presumably 200 years after he dropped off Amy and Rory (in his time), trying to cope with his imminent death, and stop the death of one of his friends. Knowing that he basically endangers all that come near him, the Doctor wants Craig to stay away, but seems to only draw him in more.

This episode was very good for what it was: the fluffy episode towards the series finale that keeps one optimistic before their soul is crushed by the bleak ending we all know we will have. This has been seen in Boom Town, Love & Monsters, and finally The Lodger. I know that all of these episodes are somewhat “love it or hate it” affairs, but I think that Closing Time is one of the better ones. My personal favorite thing about the episode was the Doctor’s revelation that Craig’s son calls himself “Stormageddon” in baby language; I give it weeks before someone actually names their kid that. In the grand scheme of things Closing Time does nothing for the larger picture save a scene with River Song at the very end, but that wasn’t what it was there to do. It was the “palette cleanser” right before the main course, the episode that will hopefully blow us away and finish up some stuff we’ve been getting worked up about for 2 full seasons.

Since the end of Doctor Who’s fifth season I have been milling around a bag full of questions that were seemingly left unanswered. I assume that some of this will be touched on in the final episode of season six, but if it doesn’t can it all be explained away by saying “the silence did it?” Most of these appeared in the penultimate and final episodes last season, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. Most of these seem to point towards somebody or something “messing with” Amy at various points in time, and all stem from one big question:

Why was the TARDIS taken back to June 26, 2010? –

“Space and time isn’t safe yet. The Tardis exploded for a reason. Something drew the Tardis to this particular date and blew it up. Why, and why now?”

– The Doctor at the end of The Big Bang

It has been speculated upon that this is a dangling plot thread left unanswered. At this point I wonder if we’ll actually see the real reason for this unveiled this season, but one thing does come to mind. Assuming that Amy and Rory “got it on” right after their wedding date, could the significance be that this was River Song’s conception date? This brings two possible options:

Was somebody trying to stop her existence? Going back to the conception date thing, we can assume that River does not fulfill her goals set aside by the silence, so maybe they are trying to kill her before she even is born…Maybe she is the one that actually stops their evil plans. Here are examples of how River was supposed to get over-written Terminator style, only to have the Doctor goof it up:

Somebody tried to kill Amy by somehow turning Rory into an Auton – this failed because of the Doctor.

Somebody broke into Amy’s house before her wedding day, but she wasn’t there…

Since this approach was bungled up, maybe the “big bad” went to plan B.

What if she was actually brought there to actually cause the explosion… With what we know about River in the latter half of this season, she was set up to be a weapon to kill the Doctor by the Silence. What if she has been brainwashed to destroy the TARDIS, most likely by the post-hypnotic suggestion from the silence? What if she actually did her job by destroying the universe only to have the Doctor undo it completely?

This also could explain why The TARDIS materialized in rock, maybe the TARDIS itself was trying to protect everything from River, and put her in a time-loop.

This does sort of paint the Silence and the “villain alliance” in series 5 as heroes of some sort, but what if that is true. What if they know of something The Doctor doesn’t know about – something that is truly evil, and the REAL villain in this whole thing? Something the Doctor unwittingly causes. I honestly think that there is an evil renegade Timelord out there causing this whole mess, Omega, Rassilon, The Rani, The Master etc…

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It’s been a few weeks since Planet Comicon, so this week Stephen discusses the rich convention schedule that has been popping up in Kansas City, MO in recent years. A big emphasis is placed on the fact that KC is … Continue reading →

“In an urban society everything connects, each person’s needs are feed by the skills for many others, our lives are woven together in a fabric, but the connections that make society strong also make it vulnerable” Last episode, Stephen started … Continue reading →

This week, the podcast takes a look at post-apocalyptic fiction in the 1980’s – starting out with a movie that was banned in 1965 by the BBC for being “too horrific” and shown some twenty years later. The War Game … Continue reading →

Hey Everyone! I have finally decided to release the podcast that I’ve been toying around with all these months! This episode is basically just an introductory episode to get us ready for the upcoming awesomeness that will be the normal … Continue reading →

Triangle Face Podcast

Brad is still not with us this week, meaning that we have another guest filled episode. This week’s show is yet another one featuring us telling stories of our past. This time, we aren’t discussing drunk stories, but stories about the time when we all lived in a terrible apartment that was about to fall […]

A listener asked us why we did not one, but TWO gaming episodes right before E3, we respond by doing yet another gaming episode to cover ourselves. Brad is off being a father or something, so we’re joined by The Ginger One himself, Jason Clark Triangle Face Podcast Ep 8 – Waiting for […]

This week the crew discusses the new X-Men film, X-men Days of Future Past. Do we discuss how the movie was? Do we discuss the travels of Ferdinand Magellan? Does Dave discover more ammo to combat Mike in his never-ending quest to dethrone Wolverine as top dog of the Marvel universe? We answer […]

Here is the second part of our long-winded discussion on video games. This time we take a step back to review a new interdependently-made role playing game called Siralim and attempt to give away some free stuff. That is, until our run-in with the fabled lawnmower man. Triangle Face Podcast Ep 6 – […]

This is the first half of a two-part discussion Brad, Dave, and Steve had about the state of gaming in 2014. They discuss good things, bad things, and what we are all looking forward to in the gaming world. Check back in a few days for more, as this one got a bit out of hand, […]

This week on Triangle Face Podcast, we will be discussing summer movies and more specifically the newest Godzilla movie. As you can imagine, this episode is going to be full of spoilers so listen at your own risk! Triangle Face Podcast Ep 4 – Deal With It Related articles Film Review: Godzilla (2014) Why [Spoiler] […]

Another few weeks have passed, and it’s time once again for another largely substandard episode of Triangle Face Podcast. This time the guys (and Sarah) tell stories of everyone’s favorite pastime – drinkin’ the booze. While some of us are too old for the party guy lifestyle of our youths, it’s fun to look back […]

In this episode, Stephen, Dave, and Brad discuss people that whine about books being turned into movies. They they do some whining themselves. Then they talk about obscure children’s books. All in all, nothing gets accomplished! Triangle Face Podcast Ep 2 – Danger in Quicksand Swamp Related articles Welcome to our page! 1984 Related Podcast I […]

On this episode, Dave, Mike, Steve, and Brad discuss a Stanley Kubrick related documentary called Room 237. This film is a HIGHLY acclaimed, and award winning film for some reason that our crew really does not enjoy all that much. Are there homoerotic erections everywhere? Minotaurs? Nazi Typewriters? The answer is NO! Triangle Face […]

Last week, as reported by The American Free Press, Scott "Victor Thorn" Makufka took his own life. Unfortunately, well known Facebook fan pages and other sites have claimed that Hillary Clinton had something to do with it. Here's why that isn't true......

After being absent due to a seasonal side job, Thomas is back. He has recently acquired a new phone and a Rapsberry Pi 3 (thanks to his dad). Shaggy joins him as they catch up on things and discuss some technology.

One of my biggest pet peeves regarding Hollywood is not the tired “they have no new ideas” complaint, a complaint that is bolstered by dozens of films based on other movies, books, toys, and cartoons filling the cinemas. Mine is … Continue reading →

It wasn’t too long ago that most saw the science fiction sub-genre of “Cyberpunk” as a dying format. Yeah, The Matrix was a huge movie, but that was made almost fifteen years ago, and little else came of its popularity … Continue reading →

As promised, I’m going to review a newer anime today rather than sticking to the decade of my birth like my last few entries. This short film is one that many people have probably not heard of before, as it … Continue reading →

Science fiction stories, and more specifically cyberpunk stories, are by far my favorite type of anime and manga; and one of the grandmasters of the genre would have to be Masamune Shirow. Not only did he unleash the beast that was … Continue reading →

One genre of anime that was definitely done better in the past was the romance genre. Today, a lot of productions that could be considered “romance” often have little drive or story to move the plot along. Often times … Continue reading →

The term “classic” is extremely vague and carries the baggage of a general correlation to the age of the subject. To some, it could even be seen as a sort of a pejorative term as many regard older media as … Continue reading →

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